Friends and Family Commencement Speech

 Classmates, Family and Faculty, Congratulations to the Class of 2024 for achieving a very important milestone in our lives. Anyone who knows me, or has even met me over the years knows that I have never really enjoyed school. I’ve avoided it, argued with my parents over it, and I’ve dreaded waking up for school some mornings, But I’ll never forget what I experienced while in high school.

I look back to freshman year, Being in Mr. Mac’s shop class with my now best friends Cohen and Adam, seeing who could build the fastest co2 car. To the present day, where we’ve spent countless long days and sleepless nights together, experiencing things some of you wouldn’t be able to fathom. Or I’ll look back even further, to when I was still in daycare. Me and my best friend Eli would race our big wheels down the hill to see who could make it on the school bus first. My point in these stories is, I would have never been able to create such a strong bond with my 3 best friends that I consider brothers If it wasn’t for going to school with them.

On the other hand, I can genuinely say that I have never been happier than when I was spending time with my best friends. Being in high school, having our licenses and having more freedom supplemented our experiences together. A family friend once told me when I was 10 years old, “Be a kid while you’re still a kid.” This line has stuck with me for the past 8 years, and it’s what I base my life on every single day. Everyone always asks me, “Cooper, why are you never stressed out about school?” and my answer to that question is simple, Why would we spend our entire childhood stressing about school?

We are only considered kids until we graduate high school. In my opinion, Getting out and experiencing life is a crucial part of any childhood. We shouldn’t spend our entire lives worrying about something that takes up half of your childhood anyways. Personally, I spend just about every minute of free time with friends or family, trying my best to experience what I can while I’m still a kid, and that’s my best advice to you. Don’t let your high school years get away from you because you are too worried about what if. Your high school years will pass by as fast as a shooting star. Live every day where your feet are and enjoy every moment of it.

At the end of the day, It’s okay to not do amazing things in school. You won’t remember your academic achievements, or if you were class president freshman year. But you will forever remember the experiences you had in your high school years with your best friends. I end my speech with the most important message, Thank you to our parents. My parents are the only reason I was able to pass year after year. My parents spent countless hours at the dining room table, trying to relearn Algebra 2, just so they could help me succeed. My parents kept in contact with teachers, emailing and asking for updates constantly. I couldn’t stand my parents for this, as I constantly felt targeted just because I wasn’t doing well in school. As I stand here at this podium today, I realize I owe this all to them. They’ve always wanted the absolute best for me and have done everything in their power to provide me with everything I needed to succeed. Our Parents Sacrificed a lot for you to be on this stage, so for that we say thank you. Good Luck to everyone on their endeavors as an adult

Congratulations Class of 2024, It’s been a long time coming.

“Stanford Graduation” by saketvora is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.